Reviews & Analysis

How the human brain rapidly builds up its lipid content during brain growth and maintains its lipids in adulthood has remained elusive. Two new studies show that inactivating mutations in MFSD2A, known to be expressed specifically at the blood-brain barrier, lead to microcephaly, thereby offering a simple and surprising solution to an old enigma.

All cells of an adult plant are ultimately derived from divisions that occur in small groups of cells distributed throughout the plant, termed meristems. A new study shows that carbohydrate post-translational modification of a peptide signal influences meristem and, as a consequence, fruit size in tomato.

The genetic drivers of osteosarcoma have been difficult to identify because of the genomic complexity consistently encountered in cancer cells at diagnosis. A new study uses Sleeping Beauty transposon mutagenesis to drive osteosarcomagenesis in the mouse and identify likely drivers of the disease in humans.

A new study identifies PDE3A mutations as the cause of brachydactyly type E with hypertension. These mutations alter PDE3A activity by uncovering cryptic sites for phosphorylation by PKA and PKC, leading to enzyme hyperactivation that abnormally lowers cAMP levels.

A new large-scale study reports the whole-genome sequences of nearly 2,000 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) strains collected from 63 countries. A recent and dominant multidrug-resistant (MDR) lineage originating from South Asia, which is supplanting a bulk of ancestral drug-sensitive strains, is identified; the success of this lineage is likely driven by plasmid acquisitions and the chromosomal integration of resistance-conferring genes.

A new study identifies SPRY4 as a tumor suppressor in acute myeloid leukemia and shows that loss of SPRY4 acts as an alternative mechanism to drive RAS signaling. In addition, a paradigm of cooperativity in which combined loss of multiple negative regulators of the RAS pathway supplants the need for RAS mutations is suggested.

A hallmark of CpG islands is their unmethylated state, and determining how DNA methylation can invade these elements is therefore important for understanding developmental gene regulation and disease. A new study shows that FBXL10, a protein commonly altered by mutation in leukemia, is part of a mechanism that blocks methylation of CpG islands.

For over 100 years, it has been known that polymorphic mimicry is often switched by simple mendelian factors, yet the physical nature of these loci had escaped characterization. Now, the genome sequences of two swallowtail butterfly (Papilio) species have enabled the precise identification of a locus underlying mimicry, adding to unprecedented recent discoveries in mimicry genetics.

Recent molecular classification of colorectal cancer (CRC) has identified a poor-prognosis transcriptional subtype associated with mesenchymal traits. New studies used CRC transcriptomic data to show that tumor-associated stroma mimics the gene signature of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and found no evidence for EMT of colorectal tumor cells.

Mycorrhizal fungi live in the roots of host plants and are crucial components of all forest ecosystems. A large-scale study of fungal genomics provides new insights into the evolution of mycorrhizae and a deep exploration of mycorrhizal diversity that helps to uncover the molecular and genetic details of fungal symbiotic relationships with plants.

Tumors from pediatric patients generally contain relatively few somatic mutations. A new study reports a striking exception in individuals in whom biallelic germline deficiency for mismatch repair is compounded by somatic loss of function in DNA proofreading polymerases, resulting in 'ultra-hypermutated' malignant brain tumors.

Heterogeneity is the single most important factor driving cancer progression and treatment failure, yet little is understood about how and when this heterogeneity arises. A new study shows that colorectal cancers acquire their dominant mutations early in development and that subsequent mutations, even if they confer greater fitness, are unlikely to sweep through the tumor.

Deciphering mechanisms of drug resistance is crucial to winning the battle against cancer. A new study points to an unexpected function of YAP in drug resistance and illuminates its potential role as a therapeutic target.

The coevolution of plants and microbes has shaped plant mechanisms that detect and repel pathogens. A newly identified plant gene confers partial resistance to a fungal pathogen not by preventing initial infection but by limiting its spread through the plant.

Recent years have seen the rapid growth of large-scale biological data, but the effective mining and modeling of 'big data' for new biological discoveries remains a significant challenge. A new study reanalyzes expression profiles from the Gene Expression Omnibus to make novel discoveries about genes involved in DNA damage repair and genome instability in cancer.

Large copy number variants (CNVs) are strongly associated with morphogenetic processes and common neurodevelopmental disorders. A new study uses the example of Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) and Williams-Beuren region duplication syndrome to illustrate how induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and next-generation genomics can lead to a better understanding of complex genetics.